Joining the long line of remakes that seem to come out at least once every year now is Total Recall. 22 years after the original 'Recall', starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and directed by Paul Verhoeven, hit theaters in 1990, this new version based on the Philip K. Dick short story 'We Can Remember it for You Wholesale' stars Colin Farrell in Arnold's role and is directed by Underworld's Len Wiseman. So how does this version compare to the original, a film that is widely regarded as one of Schwarzengger's best films. Well, in terms of the writing, visuals, and tone, this remake does do enough to have a reason to exist. But when you get down to it, there were just some things that the original film did much better, and this one is clearly more focused on action then story. While the remake may improve on the original in terms of action and visuals, the original just worked much better as an overall film.
This version of Total Recall takes place in a future where the Earth has been devastated by war and now consists of two main superpowers, the United Federation of Britain and the Colony, who are locked in a battle in order to unify the world. In the midst of this is Doug Quaid (Colin Farrell), a factory worker who yearns for something more in his life. Looking to change that, he visits Rekall, a company that implants memories into their clients to help them live the lives they want to have. However, something goes wrong and all of a sudden Quaid is on the run from the Federation and even his own wife Lori (Kate Beckinsale), learning that the life he thought he knew is all a lie and that he is really a secret agent named Hauser working against the Federation. Joined by the mysterious Melina (Jessica Biel), a woman who had been in the recent dreams that have plagued him every night, 'Doug' looks to find out who he really is while fighting the UFB's forces under the leadership of Prime Minister Vilos Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston).
The key differences between this version of Total Recall compared to the original film lie in its plot and overall tone. Unlike the Schwarzenegger version, this version does not have the main character going to Mars and instead takes place in a future dystopian Earth. Being the remake, this film does look great visually, but it seems like the creators borrowed a lot from Star Wars as well. We have synthetic police officers who make up the Federation's forces that resemble clone troopers from the prequel films and the whole main conflict between the Federation and the Colony is nearly identical to the war between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire. The other major difference when it comes to this new film is that it is more serious than the original film, which was much more cheesier. Obviously, because Schwarzenegger was the star then, that makes sense for how that movie played out because that is what Arnold is known for. Here, Wiseman goes for a more serious take on this story.
That may be good enough for this remake to be, if anything, different from what was done before, but that doesn't mean that it's handled that well. The film is just a bit too serious and lacks humor. Really when you get down to it, this story was done better when Schwarzenegger and Verhoeven did it back in 1990. Sure, that film was full of corny moments, but that's part of what made it great in the first place. It would've helped if the writers had added a little more humor into the screenplay here. Instead, what this film does instead is focus more on action and unfortunately, that also brings up a problem. Once Doug starts going on the run from the law, pretty much 90% of the film is action and there are only a few short instances where the film takes a break from the action to develop the plot. Now I'm not saying that the action is bad because it actually is quite good, especially considering that this film is rated PG-13 and is considerably less violent than the original R-rated film. It's pretty much the equivalent of what we're used to now; action films that are full of special effects.
As for the cast, I can't really say anything bad about their performances, as they all did a good job. Obviously if we're going to compare Colin Farrell to Schwarzenegger, Arnold was more memorable in the role. But when it comes to the more serious take on this story, Farrell is better suited for the role. Both Beckinsale and Biel are very good as the female leads, Beckinsale being very entertaining in her first major role as a villain and Biel, while in a more traditional leading role, is still really good. As the villain, Bryan Cranston (who has made quite a year so far with minor roles in a lot of movies) isn't in the movie much but Cranston alone does makes something out of it because he's a great actor. However, the filmmakers could've used him just a little bit more.
So when you get down to it, this new version of Total Recall isn't really that bad as we thought it would've been, but as you might have guessed, the original did the better job at telling this story. True, as cheesy as it was, the original with Arnold was just better as a film in general. While this new film does take a more serious route in telling the story, it does lack the humor that made the original so great. I'm not saying that the filmmakers should've gone the same comedic routes as the original, but for a movie that is more focused on action than story, it needed more humor. That being said, the cast is still good and obviously the action and visual effects are excellent. It's an entertaining movie but it could clearly be better, especially considering what came before it.
Rating: 3.5/5
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